


Muffled

by overworkedunderwhelmed



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AVOID AT YOUR OWN PERIL, Conversations that I wish that canon might actually get to, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Season 3 finale spoilers, THAR BE SPOILERS HERE, background Lukanette, mostly angst, post-season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 10:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21117647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overworkedunderwhelmed/pseuds/overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: Sometimes, the winds of change blow colder than we anticipate.





	Muffled

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously -- SEASON 3 FINALE SPOILERS
> 
> I will not be warning you all again before the chapter starts.
> 
> Also, for spoiler minimizing, this will not be cross-posted to Tumblr until after both Chat Blanc and Felix air.

Kagami sighed as they strolled across the chilly water to another of the band’s practices. 

It wasn’t often that Adrien really noticed things. He’s sweet, and mostly thoughtful… at least, as far as boys go…

But he really didn’t pick up on subtlety well.

Well, that suited her just fine.

“It’s cold.” She stated, matter of factly, through her slightly chattering teeth.

Blinking, he peered over, surprised he hadn’t noticed. For as slim as he was, his metabolism had to be ridiculous not to notice the brisk winds starting to pick up.

Without a word, Adrien went digging through his bag, pulling a soft pale blue scarf out of it, and laying it around her shoulders. “I know it isn’t much, but it’s all I’ve got right now.”

Kagami smiled softly, then burrowed into the scarf, her lips dipping to unseen. “It’s pretty warm.”

Adrien beamed. “It’s one of the nicest things that Father has given to me.”

* * *

The pale blue didn’t really match any part of Kagami’s outfit, but it worked for the afternoon. And by the next morning, the maid staff had washed it and set it out on her desk.

No doubt Adrien would want it back. It was a treasured gift after all.

Neither of their parents were particularly warm, so the truly happy memories? Those were to be cherished.

Her fingers danced over the edge, and she noticed on odd bit of embroidery around the edge.

Peering closer, her fingers slipped across the tiny script.

_Marinette._

Kagami blinked, uncertain and suddenly skeptical as she tucked the scarf gently into her bag.

How was it that Mr. Agreste had given his son a gift without an inch of his own branding?

* * *

Through the morning, as Kagami spotted Adrien’s class heading down for physical education, her eyes darted between Marinette and Adrien through her classroom window.

Seeds of doubt began sprouting into a tiny, tangled tree, tugging and twisting at her stomach.

The feeling hadn’t abated in the slightest by lunch, and so she had taken the scarf—and the little bit of a snack that she could manage to get down—out with her onto the benches in the main courtyard.

She been so, _so _certain that Marinette had _never _acted. 

_Should _she tell Adrien…? What if she was wrong? 

What if Marinette had simply been commissioned for the project? Kagami _did _know she did that from time to time...

Her brows furrowed, and she chewed robotically as she waited for Adrien to join her.

And waited...

* * *

Twenty minutes later, and it wasn’t Adrien who sat down beside her.

Kagami winced at the scowl she now faced. She knew the scowler as one of Marinette’s other friends… Alya? Or was it Aya? But they hadn’t been terribly social with one another. 

“You know… it’s bad enough you got in the way.” Alya grumbled. “But did you have to take the scarf, too?”

“Got in whose way?” Kagami breathed. 

“Who do you think?” Alya shook her head. “You at least seemed to be smarter than all that. She didn’t say anything… but she didn’t exactly have to. I saw just how hurt she looked when she saw you wearing that.”

“She gave it to him, didn’t she?” Kagami puzzled aloud.

“And just like every time she’s ever tried to tell him, or _show _him…” Alya crossed her arms over her chest. “Everything that could go wrong, did.”

Kagami’s eyes narrowed, staring without focus across the courtyard. “I thought she hadn’t told him.”

“Not for lack of trying…” Alya nodded to the scarf. “For instance, this—she took the present to his house for his birthday, which wasn’t all that long after the school year started. Of course, the secretary turned her away. She even realized she’d forgotten to leave a card with the silly thing and went back in to fix her mistake. ” Alya’s gaze fell back upon her. “But somehow, Adrien comes to school the next day, happier than we’ve ever seen him by that point… showing off the ‘_lovely scarf from his Father_’.”

Kagami paced, trying to calm her seasick stomach. “Why didn’t she tell him? She should have told him straight away.”

Alya arched a brow. “She could have, yes. And I asked her the very same thing. But Marinette thinks about everyone else first. Telling him it was from her… that meant spoiling _his _happiness.”

Kagami looked angry, fingers biting into the well-worn blue knit. “His Father didn’t deserve the appreciation for all her hard work.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Alya stood, eyeing Kagami levelly. “I know she can put on a brave face sometimes… but she’s still holding back. Even now. For you. For Adrien. For Luka.”

“She stepped away.” Kagami reminded herself aloud. “It was Marinette who wasn’t sure.” 

Alya snorted. “She was sure of her feelings. She wouldn’t have kept trying to reach out to him—for well over a year—otherwise. Even the other girls in our class were getting a little tired of all her failed attempts. But Adrien’s feelings for _her_… well that was the one thing she has never really been confident about.”

Kagami bitterly considered that it was one thing she and Marinette definitely had most in common. 

“Look… Marinette, doesn’t even tell _me _what’s wrong. Not anymore.” Alya exhaled sharply. “But even _I _noticed her running out of here not long after she saw _that _in your hands.” 

Kagami looked down at the scarf, accusatory blue that matched all too closely to the blue of Marinette’s eyes. 

“I won’t tell you what to do about Adrien. But if you consider Marinette even half the friend you seem to… then it’s only fair that you know just what your actions are doing to her.”

As Alya stalked off, Kagami’s eyes slid closed, her arms winding around her middle. That… was surprising. If she knew anything about Marinette, it was that she’d noticed, sometimes, even the tiniest details.

So if she didn’t notice Adrien’s feelings for her… if it _wasn’t _Marinette who Adrien was so dead set upon... _Who _was it?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot. I'm sort of mentally processing my way through the finale and its ramifications here.
> 
> I honestly do like both Luka and Kagami as characters. But I viscerally hate the rivals trope; other fandoms have made me wish it to perdition well before I ever got into ML. I never intended to write anything for the rival pairings, but this idea took hold and frankly I needed some sort of post-finale catharsis. 
> 
> There are so, so many little pieces the writers have dropped along the way, the scarf only being one of many. But the more I thought on it, the more I realized it actually functioned well as a conversation piece that could actually push the knowledge in a helpful direction. 
> 
> I would love for canon to eventually put both Alya and Kagami's plotting heads together. I want to see, in the long game, the whole of the girl squad growing in number and in solidarity, especially if the team is allowed to expand to eventually seek out Hawkmoth and end his reign of terror. But to do that, there are some tough conversations that will need to happen first.
> 
> Conversations being literally what none of these characters can seem to do with one another. 
> 
> Thanks to Kellarhi for beta reading here.


End file.
